Pasco deputy returns to work after being shot in the line of duty

It was a call for help that nearly took a tragic turn. Pasco County sheriff's deputies ended up in a gun battle with a suspect. One of them was shot and almost lost his life. 

Two months later, that K-9 deputy is now back on active duty.

Deputy Chris Stone tells FOX 13 News he is thrilled to be back at work, doing what he loves, and happy to have life returning to normal.

Stone was shot while responding to a domestic violence call in New Port Richey. Body camera footage just released shows just how terrifying and chaotic the night was.

It was the early morning hours of June 8. Pasco County deputies were negotiating with Terrance Peterson after the 62-year-old got into a fight with his wife and shot her Amazon Alexa.

"What we did not know at the time is all the other weapons that were there at the scene,” said Stone.  “We spent some time trying to resolve this peacefully, and there came a point that it was decided that were gonna go in and make an arrest."​​​​​​

Stone, along with three other deputies went into the house. He says, as soon as they got close to Peterson he ambushed them.

During the gun battle, Stone was shot in the thigh. The bullet from an assault rifle completely severing his femoral artery.

"I started to get very lightheaded and it felt like someone had taken a garden hose and just turned it on full and just stuck it down my pant leg," Stone explained.

The father of two passed out inside the house. Telling us when he came too he thought about his family and knew it was not the day he was going to die.         

Stone managed to get outside before collapsing again.

Deputies pulled him away from the house to safety, working quickly to figure out where he was shot.  Once they found the wound, a tourniquet was used to try to stop the heavy bleeding.

"They put a tourniquet on my leg which is ultimately what saved my life,” said Stone.  “You gotta stop that bleeding otherwise, you know, an arterial wound will bleed out in anywhere from three to five minutes."

Stone had surgery and was in the hospital for five days after the shooting. He says it was a painful recovery, and he does have some permanent damage from the bullet wound and tourniquet being on his leg for so long.

He came back to work last Monday, saying he is ready to protect and serve.

"This is K-9 J.R. He’s just as happy to be back to work as I am," Stone said.

Peterson shot himself in the head that night and died at the hospital a few days later.